Qantas booking - departure date impacts return flight costs

[shbap]

Hello

Wondering if this is "normal" and basically standard practice?

I am looking at standard economy return flights from Sydney to Hong Kong on Qantas. Use the flexible dates on Qantas.com to see cheapest flights around my proposed dates, I noticed for a particuar departure date, the same return flight is show as more expensive.

For instance

Departure: 29/12, cost $908
Return: 2/1, cost $604


Departure: 28/12, cost $848
Return: 2/1, cost $824

 

[Quickstatus]

Yes very common and normal. Each international return flight is priced according to a outbound and return pair and there are several fare "buckets" within each fare category (Saver, Flex)

Note that the aircraft operating 29/12 will be the A380 and the 28/12 will be operated by a B747 if that makes a difference.

If Status credits and FF points are not as important, have you looked at other airlines like CX or even AY (Finnair)?

 

[shbap]

Yes very common and normal. Each international return flight is priced according to a outbound and return pair and there are several fare "buckets" within each fare category (Saver, Flex)

Note that the aircraft operating 29/12 will be the A380 and the 28/12 will be operated by a B747 if that makes a difference.

If Status credits and FF points are not as important, have you looked at other airlines like CX or even AY (Finnair)?

Interesting, must say I've only really seen it with Qantas but presumably most of the sophisticated carriers do it - just been too ignorant to notice.

I'm in the midst of a QF status challenge (for Gold, based on my Velocity status), so would prefer Qantas. CX seemed more expensive from what I could find but given the prices I'm getting, I'll look into AY!

 

[Quickstatus]

If you are looking for SC then It's QF. AY will give less SC for same flight.

Ive seen unusual fares where one sector is more or less expensive depending on the date of travel which is eliminated on another day. The only way I can explain it is that international flights are often priced according to pairs. The length of stopover may also be a factor

 

[JohnK]

This anomaly has kept me up many a night trying to plan my itineraries.

My thoughts a long time ago were "Do any 2 people on a flight not travelling together pay the same price for their ticket?". It really shouldn't be that difficult.

 

[Quickstatus]

It shouldn't be that difficult but it is. Just another business trying to make their prices sound great but being tricky about the real story